


Star Wars Episode VII: A Light in the Dark

by The1whoknox



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Bounty Hunters, F/M, Fix-It, Fusion of Star Wars Legends and Disney Canon, Lightsaber Battles (Star Wars), Millenium Falcon (Star Wars), fuck rian johnson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:41:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27338854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The1whoknox/pseuds/The1whoknox
Summary: Forty years have passed since the fall of the Empire. Now a new threat looms over the Galaxy. Leia sends one of her most trusted pilots to find a map that will lead her to the last known Jedi. Her lost brother who has not been seen for some time. As she continues to wait for answers, a new group will take up the fight for them. A group of bounty hunters who end up in hot water try to make a quick credit end up fighting in a war they did want to be a part of.
Relationships: Leia Organa/Han Solo





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> An: So here is something I was not expecting to do. I really got inspired by Star Wars Episode VII: A Spark of Light by Zer0the0mega108. I want to try, try being the keyword, to write a Star Wars story that actually tells a story. I will be using both a bit of Legends and “Cannon” to write the story. The Sequel Trilogy felt out of sorts like there was no guiding voice to tell the writers and directors what to do.
> 
> There was no Kevin Feige around to keep a hold on the overall story. I get directors want to put their own mark on a film franchise so incredible as this. The characters were never fleshed out. Finn stayed the same throughout the story, he never had an arc. Poe was only around because of a few screen testers wanted more of him. Phasma was hyped as the new Boba Fett and got killed not once but twice. There were plot holes out the asshole, and they didn’t respect any of the classic characters. They made Han a distant father who was afraid of screwing Ben, so they made it the father screwed up the son. Leia never became the new leader of the Republic because everyone found out she was Darth Vader’s child. Chewie was never going to die; I knew that.
> 
> Let's be honest the movies went overboard with the feminism. Having a female lead as the main character, no problem, but making them all-powerful for no reason is unacceptable. Here are some prime examples of that right off the top of my head. 
> 
> In “The Force Awakens,” Ray fights Kylo like it is nothing even though she is just discovering her powers and holding a lightsaber for the first time manages to not only hold her own but beat a man who was once the student of Luke Skywalker. I don’t know, I can’t just wrap my head around it.
> 
> The Last Jedi pissed me off so much. At first, it was because of how Luke was used in the movie as a moody old man that lost hope because he had a bad dream about Kylo. I mean, we got a scene with him milking a monster, but we couldn’t get a decent fight scene with him. Now when it comes out on Blu-Ray, I get all the behind the scene stuff. Then Rian Johnson comes out and says I didn’t want to make The Force a superpower. Then looking back in the movie, he goes and has Leia fly back in the ship like she is Superwoman with The Force. Anyway, sorry for my rant now let's get on with the chapter.
> 
> Also, here is a cast list. Whenever I write a story, I like to give a visual representation of some of the characters or their voices. It is just something I do. If there is ever a new character, I will be doing the same as I did before. So here is the cast for the new OCs.
> 
> Kas – Jon Bernthal
> 
> Rhia – Elodie Yung
> 
> Temza – Cara Delevingne
> 
> T-IK – David Tennant
> 
> Jaden - Dylan O’Brien

Disclaimer: I own none of these properties. If I did, there would have been some changes, and I would have someone in charge who could do a decent job.

“There has been am Awakening” Dialogue

 _“Han my boy,”_ Alien Dialect

‘Breath. Just Breath.’ Force Vision /Past Dialogue

**“Don’t make me destroy you,” Voice Modulator/ Droid Voice/ Hologram Voice**

**A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…**

**Star**

**Wars**

**Episode VII:**

**A Light in the Darkness**

_**A new darkness threatens the peace that was brought by heroes of old. For thirty years, the establish Republic has stood strong. The First Order has threatened that peace and declared war on all who do not join their side.** _

_**The New Republic turns to General Leia Organa Solo to leads the brave Resistance. Leia, in need of more help, sends out a search party for her missing brother Luke Skywalker. With war looming, the Resistance will need the help Luke can provide.** _

_**As the conflicts and battles continue, a small band of bounty hunters are out on a job given to them by The First Order.** _

_**Western Side of the Inner Rim** _

Coming out of Hyperspace was a light blue VCX-350 light freighter. Another more distinguished fact of the ship was that it was smoking. The ship was had been through numerous battles, and the numerous laser burns on the hull showed it. The ship was not going in any direction, it was just floating in the void of space. It was dead in space. The ship went under the name of the Vigil, and right now, it was looking in need of a prayer.

Inside was no better. The walls running along the ship had sparks coming out of the exposed wires and was slightly smoking. The housing area of the turret mechanics was blowing smoking out of like a resting dragon. A flashing red light and a blaring horn sound was alerting In the middle of it was a tall, red-eyed, brown-haired, with some light grey hair around his muzzle, Shistavanen running around with an extinguisher trying to put out the fires before they even started “Hey Temza! How we doin?” he yelled as he continued to run around putting out fires. He wore a simple brown vest tunic, a pair of leather pants that stopped at the bend in his leg, and pair of beskar armbands.

Inside the cockpit was a Dathomirian woman with flowing silver hair up in a ponytail, with some of the hair falling over her right eye and a purple tattoo on her left eye that went from the corner of her eye around towards her ear. She wore a navy colored sleeveless shirt; over it was a sleeveless jacket that did not cover her midsection. Her pants were a thin cloth that hugged her figure and had red boots that went up to her calves. A belt hung from her waist that was connected to a holster that was around her thigh. She yelled back at the Shistavanen, saying, “Trying to keep us from dying. Quit bothering me!” she was rapidly typing away on the consoles and flipping switches. The calm tone of her voice made the Shistavanen nervous as he continued to run damage control. She was trying to power down as many systems as possible as to not overexert the engines and cause more damage like being unable to go anywhere or blow up whatever came first.

Temza had powered down all non-essential systems and ran to help wolf-like alien “Kas go make sure the landing gear is still okay,” she motioned for him to toss the extinguisher.

“Alright,” he did as the girl wanted and went to check on the landing gear housing unit. He ran past the galley and began his inspection. Luckily, the landing gear was still intact. He sighed in relief and then remembered something important “Temza! I’m going down to the engine!” he said. He didn’t wait for Temza to answer. He went down to the lower deck. Looking at the doors to the engine room, he saw smoke coming from the divide of the doors.

He quickly opened the door and was met with a wall of smoke. It was bad, incredibly bad. If this was coming from the Hyperdrive, the ship could explode. Suddenly a voice in the smoke caught his attention, “T-IK, are there any more leaks coming out?” it was the voice of a young man. As the smoke cleared from the engine room, it revealed a young man standing on top of the hyperdrive with a tool belt around his waist. He also had a pair of welder goggles covering his eyes as he worked to fix the hyperdrive.

In another part of a room was a droid that was checking gauges and typing away at the engine control. The droid also had a jacking unit in a control panel as it spun around accessing and shutting down all damaged systems, the droid looked towards the young man and told him **“My scan shows that all the leaks are sealed,”** T-IK responded. Normally a droid of T-IK’s model would have sent shivers down everyone’s spine and made them run for the hills. It was a hunter model, assassin class droid. The armor of the droid was a mismatch of parts. The chest module was from an IG unit. The arms were from a KX-series droid, and the legs belonged to an old HK unit that was found in a junk planet and took years for them to become operational. The eyes of the droid were a dark red that pierces through the smoke.

The young man nodded and took off his goggles and hopped off the hyperdrive. He was a man of no more than twenty years. He had dark black hair that spiked in the front of it. His eyes were a dark brown and his face while mature held some boyish charm to it. He wore a pair of black boots, his calves were wrapped in a tan cloth and brown slightly baggy pants on his lower body. His upper body was covered with a brown jacket that had a grey shoulder and collar covering that was put in place by a belt that clipped in the back to the jacket. The jacket sleeves stopped at the elbow, and on his were fingerless gloves that had a brown cloth that wrapped around his wrists. At his midsection was a belt with a holster dangling at his hip. He pats T-IK’s back “Thanks for the help. Big guy,”

T-IK turned towards him and scuffed, **“Me help you? Please! You are the one who helped me! Your tiny flesh brain could not keep up with the leaks. Help you! The nerve!”** T-IK fired back as he scuffed and walked past the young man and Shistavanen. Kas growled lowly as the machine walked past him.

The younger man objected to the unneeded hostility from the droid by calling out, “Hey!” The young man shook his head, and the turned to Kas, “Everything okay up top?”

Kas grunted and walked out the engine room door “We’re good kid. Didn’t blow up, so we’re good,” Kas and the man went up the stair to upper level seeing Temza working on turret controls as sparks flew at her causing her to curse and throw a tool at the controls “At least not yet,”

The sound of footsteps coming up the cargo area stairs and a voice yelling from the stairwell caught their attention “Kas, Jaden! Go prep for landing. We are about to meet our employer!” By the time she came up the stairs, she was done giving an order to her crew. The woman was beautiful, to say the least. She had black hair that was cut short to not interfere with her fighting. She was a Mandalorian, after all. The woman held a gold-painted and beskar Mandalorian Nite Owl helmet under her arm. The armor itself followed the helmet’s color coordination and consisted of the usual Mandalorian chest plate, vambraces, shoulder pauldrons, codpiece, kneepads, thigh, and shin guards. All of them were made of beskar steel. On the right vambrace was a mini flamethrower, wrist-mounted blaster.

Kas let out a mix of a snarl and snort as he responds, “You got it, captain,” he and Jaden walked away to do their assigned tasked.

She watched the two walk off to their assigned task and then made her way to the cockpit where she came up of arguing coming from Temza and her droid “I am telling you if it wasn’t for the rest of the crew we would be space dust! So, cool your sensors,”

Temza was in the pilot seat while T-IK was working in the co-pilot seat monitoring the ship as they went along, **“And I am telling you Miss Temza. The young meat bag said I helped “it”. Me helping a weak little flesh bag, ha! I rather have Jawas rip me apart and sell me,”** he hit a few more keys as he ranted.

“How far are we out?” the captain asked the duo.

Temza went back to piloting and left T-IK to answer the captain, **“We are approaching the meeting point, female meat bag,”** or maybe she should have done the talking.

The captain just stared out into the void of space humming before she spoke “Update me when we arrive,” she started to walk out of the cockpit before stopping in the entryway “Talk to me like that again, and I will personally sell you to Jawas,” and she went on her way.

T-IK looked over at where the captain was standing before looking at Temza, who stared wide-eyed at T-IK, **“I like her,”** T-IK said plainly before going back to work.

As the captain came upon Kas and Jaden doing what she saw, they had finished their final inspection, “Everything working boys?”

“Yeah,” Jaden said as wiped his hands on a rag “I wouldn’t make another jump anytime soon. We are going to need a new one,” Rhia groaned out, another set of credits down the drain.

“Cap, what’s this job anyway?” Kas asked. For as long as he had ever known her, she had always been up front with all the information about jobs. However, she was keeping everything close to her chest on this one

The captain remained silent until Kas spoke up, “Rhia, who is the client?” Kas felt the hair on his back stand on edge, not liking her silence.

Rhia took a deep breath and was about answer when a shout from the cockpit caught her attention **“First Order ship just jumped out of Hyperspace!”** T-IK called out.

Kas and Jaden then stared at the captain of the ship. As she walked through the ship, Jaden and Kas were right behind her, asking the question, “Are you out of your mind!?” Kas asked in a growl.

“Rhia, this crazy. These people are no better than a cult,” Jaden begged. Hearing the stories, he heard he wanted nothing to do with the people who indoctrinate their followers. 

“You said, and I quote, “We don’t. I repeat. We don’t get involved with wars,” Kas yelled as they finally got to the cockpit and saw a war class Star Destroyer hailing them.

“Somebody want to tell me why we have a First Order ship is hailing us?” Temza asked, hitting button and flipping switches ready to fly out of there.

“Those would be our clients,” Temza froze and turned towards her captain in shock. She then proceeded to say the same thing as Kas. This was not how they did business. Usually, they could trust Rhia with taking jobs. Now it looked their trust had been broken.

Rhia stood continuing to stare out of the observation window, she looked at her crew and gave her crew the order she was dreading to give “Open a channel to the clients,”

The rest of the crew looked at one another before T-IK did as he was told **“Opening channel,”**

Appearing on the holocomm of the ship was a person in an armor-plated First Order soldier. Jaden had read about this person, it was the commander of First Order Captain Phasma. A ruthless leader and terrifying commander **“This Captain Phasma, to whom am I speaking to?”** the woman spoke with authority and a tone that said the message of don’t waste my time.

Rhia put her helmet on and stepped forward, presenting herself to the holocomm **“This Rhia captain of The Vigil. We are here answering a contract that you had posted,”** Rhia stated as she continued to stand for a minute.

Phasma continued to stare for a couple of seconds before nodding, **“Meet us on the planet of Jakku at these coordinates. Do not keep us waiting,”** she said with authority, then the holocomm disappeared, leaving the crew to stare at their captain.

Rhia unclenched her hands that she had no recollection of clenching. She then took her helmet off and looked over to her crew, who were glaring at her waiting for answers, “If any of you want out, I will understand,” Temza looked at Jaden, who was looking towards Kas and T-IK was sitting processing the information.

Kas looked at Jaden, who nodded at the man knowing that the kid would follow his lead and then at Temza, who nodded as well “We do this, and we're done,” Kas said.

Rhia smiled, showing she was glad that Kas and the crew were staying on to do this job, “Thank you, I promise you will not regret…” she started to say.

“No, after this, we are done. You are on your own. Me and the kid are out of here,” Kas said as he left to check on what Jaden.

Kas walked through the ship, still fuming at what was just revealed to them, he came up one of the crew quarters that Jaden had made his own. Opening the door without knocking, he saw Jaden cleaning his DL-28 Blaster Pistol. The door opening up caused the young man to look over at Kas before going back to examining his blaster. Jaden let out a nervous sigh and looked up to Kas, “Are you sure this is a good idea?” he asked his friend.

Kas leaned against the doorframe and shook his head “No, I don’t,” he answered honestly. This reeked of bad news, never have they ever worked of the First Order, and they wanted to keep it that way. He then walked over to the kid and put a clawed hand on the young man’s shoulder to reassure him “Once this is done, we leave and find some other work,”

Jaden looked towards his friend and nodded, then Temza poked her head into the doorway and told the duo, “We are about to land on Jakku might want to gear up,” she said. The duo nodded and got up and headed to the cargo bay to get ready for their contract. Temza followed behind them, biting her lip she nervously asked the question that had been bugging her “Are you two really going to leave after this?”

Kas and Jaden looked back at her before Jaden answered honestly, “Yeah,” they both felt Rhia was not worth trusting anymore after accepting a contract from the First Order.

Temza then blurted out, “Can I go with you guys? Me and T-IK I mean,” she asked, hoping they would let her, and her droid goes with them, wherever they went.

Kas let out a snort, “Only if we can sell him for credits,” he said as they made it to the cargo bay where T-IK and Rhia were waiting already geared up and waiting for the rest. Everyone put weapons in holsters and check over their weapons once more. 

As the rest geared up the job, Jaden looked around the cargo bay and could feel the tension in the air, neither Kas nor Rhia were acknowledging each other. He just hoped none of them got killed over this.

As the cargo bay door opened, the sight before them was a vast desert that stretched for miles in all directions, showing little signs of life. Kas walked out, first adjusting the weapon that sat upon his back, taking one step out, and felt the sand on his feet, “Sand, I hate sand, gets everywhere,” he rolled his shoulders and walked off his ship. They had landed on a ridge overlooking a small settlement

Suddenly a First Order drop shuttle came roaring down on to the sand below, blowing up a small sandstorm in the process. When the shuttle settled on the ground, the bay doors opened up, and a small battalion of stormtroopers came out. They then parted ways and stood at attention. Within the shuttle, the sound of heavy metal footsteps meeting the metal doors and down the platform came Captain Phasma. The holocomm didn’t do her justice, the woman was tall nearly as tall as Kas and even with the armor

Rhia walked side-by-side with Kas with Temza and Jaden coming behind them. T-IK brought up the rear already armed with two A-180 blasters at the ready. They walked up to Captain Phasma, catching her attention. She then turned towards the group, and seeing the band of bounty hunters, the First Order had hired, **“This is your crew?”** from her tone, they could tell she was unimpressed.

Rhia stepped forward tall and proud as she could be **“My crew will handle any job you throw at them,”** she said with confidence. Phasma looked them over again before motioning Rhia to follow her.

As went over the ridge, they saw a small settlement with no more than twenty small homes, that was when Phasma told them what they were to do while pointing at the settlement **“You are to go down there and capture the village elder. We want him alive,”** she looked at them, gauging their reactions. None of them looked to be questioning the job, **“When you find him signal us, we will take it from there,”** Phasma said.

The five-man crew all looked at one another and began walking towards their destination. Kas finally spoke after getting far enough away from the stormtroopers and Phasma, “Something’s going on. They wouldn’t hire bounty hunters for a job this simple. They have the stormtroopers for that,” He grabbed his DLT-19 heavy blaster rifle from his back and held it at the ready.

Jaden agreed with Kas, “This feels like a set-up,” he said as they made it to the outskirts out the settlement.

 **“Not the time to talk, boys. Time to go to work,”** Rhia said as she ready her WESTAR-35 blaster pistol. As they finally made their approach to the small settlement, she saw that they caught the attention of the people. Some of them pulled out blasters of their own as if to say that’s close enough. Temza pulled her DL-18 blaster pistol from its holster, ready with the rest of the crew. Rhia stepped forward, still holding her blaster, not in the least bit intimidated, **“We just want to speak to the elder of the settlement. Bring him out, and we will be on our way,”** Rhia bargained.

The settlers now aimed directly at the Mandalorian ready to open fire, causing the rest of The Vigil’s crew to draw their blasters and aimed at the settlers. Suddenly two men came forwards from the settlers, one young man with dark hair and wearing a brown leather jacket and a man much older as the wrinkles and white hair showed. Along with them, an orange and white BB unit rolled with them. The older man put his hand on one of the blasters that were aimed at the crew and pushed it down, which caused the others in the settlement to follow “I heard you were looking for me. Can I help you?” the elder spoke.

Rhia did the same to show violence was not her first action, and the crew did the same, **“We were paid to capture you and bring you to our employer. Come quietly, and your people will not be harmed,”** she said truthfully. They came for him, not the settlement. They would not hurt people outside the contract.

Jaden and Kas kept their eyes trained on the settlers as they still disliked the option that was presented to them. Suddenly the man smiled lightly and nodded “Then take me,” he brought his hands up in a waiting manner to be cuffed.

The younger man pulled back the other man, “Wedge don’t,” he shook his head, telling the man this was a bad idea. When Jaden heard that name, he felt he heard that name somewhere and tried to conjure an idea in mind.

Wedge lightly pat the man’s hand that grabbed him smiled at him, “It’s alright, Poe. Go, you have what you need,” he then walked forward towards the crew. Kas then stepped forward and gently took the man by the shoulder.

However, the peace negotiations broke down as the First Order shuttle from before came roaring towards them before landing only a couple of meters away from the settlement. Kas looked towards Rhia while putting the man known as Wedge behind him. Kas then looked at his captain, “What’s going on, Rhia?” asking if she knew what this was. Rhia looked at him and shook her head.

“Uh, guys,” Temza said as the stormtroopers all marched out in formation along with Phasma. Temza aimed her blaster at the stormtroopers who returned in kind. Jaden and T-IK readied their blasters as well, and T-IK had armament released out of his back, showing a buzz saw and flamethrower.

Phasma did not turn towards the bounty hunters that were aiming at her troops, they were not her concern **“Hand the prisoner over and be on your way bounty hunters,”** she told them. Kas looked at Rhia, who looked over expectantly. Kas brought the man forward who did nothing but look at metal suited woman with disdain, **“Where is it?”** she barked out.

Wedge just continued to stare at her and replied, “Where’s what?” he asked, still not showing any emotion.

Phasma walked into the man’s space and face, trying to intimidate to no success she then said, **“Wedge Antilles. Still the resistance fighter as always,”** which caused Wedge to smile.

Jaden finally put two and two together as he understood who Wedge really was “No way,” he said softly he was looking at the back of a legendary pilot of the old resistance. He then slightly turned towards the settlement. The people there were in danger. Jaden then called out “Kas,” he said in worry. Kas nodded, knowing how the situation was going to go.

Rhia did something unexpected as she came between two and went in front of Phasma **“We did our part, now where is our payment?”** she demanded. Phasma turned to Rhia, but her helmet made her it hard to read her expression and thoughts.

Phasma then completely turned to the Mandalorian who was the leader of the bounty hunters that stood between her and the prisoner that they were hired to capture **“What did you say your name was again?”** she asked with a little more interest than before.

Rhia stepped forward, looking up silently at the taller woman, **“My name is Rhia. Rhia…”** suddenly, she pulled a Baskar knife from a sheath on her hip and tried to stab Phasma. However, she was stopped mid-motion. She grunted as she tried to move, but she was being constricted by an energy.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps on the bay doors. The footsteps revealed to be a man dressed in all black and a mask that was all black as well. The only other color that was present on the helmet was silver-colored bands that wrapped around the eye and cheek section of the helmet. His hand was out in the direction of Rhia, **“That is far enough bounty hunter,”** the voice modulator in a mask made his voice deep and lifeless.

As he walked towards Rhia, Kas felt the hair on his back stand up on end. This man radiated darkness, and they needed to getaway. He had heard rumors about this man, a Sith Lord who was one of the leaders of the First Order, Kylo Ren. Jaden felt cold like he was in a frozen tundra of Hoth. Underneath it, all was a raging inferno that was beneath the darkness that was ready to lash out at any given moment. 

Jaden and Kas aimed their blasters at the man who did not look at them. They were no threat to someone like him. He then waved his arm, and Rhia went flying over them. He then walked up to Wedge, who stared at Kylo with sadness. Kylo stared at him in then his chilling voice spoke **“Look how old you have become,”**

Wedge smiled at the man “That’s what happens when you get old kiddo,” he shook his head before he frowned “You changed too,” he said in disappointment.

Kylo scuffed and continued on what he was here for **“You know what I seek. Give it to me,”** he reached a hand out expectantly.

Wedge looked at the hand and then continued, “You know I can’t do that. It’s long gone,” he gave a sad smile as he knew what was coming next.

Kylo closed his hand, and as rage surged through his body, he reached for his hip and produced a weapon that let out a hiss when it was activated. It was a red-bladed lightsaber with two blades shooting out the side like a guard to a sword, the blade itself was fluctuating and crackling. Kylo put the blade through Wedge, ending his life before kicking him off and in angry voice told Phasma and the stormtroopers, **“Burn this place to the ground. Find the key, kill everyone,”** he then looks at the bounty hunters who were hired **“Them as well,”**

Jaden heard what Kylo said and opened fire immediately, causing two troopers to drop dead in the sand. Phasma pulled a blaster out of her own and fired. The bolt almost hit Temza, but luckily T-IK stood in front of her, **“Finally, I have been dying to do this,”** he said as he unleashed hell. Blaster bolts hit him in the chassis, but it did little to stop him. Temza used T-IK as a cover as she would peak out a fire. Jaden and Kas were retreating backward as they tried to avoid the blaster fire.

Without warning, blaster fire started coming from behind them. The settlers were firing at the stormtroopers as well “We got back up!” Jaden yelled. However, a blaster bolt flew past his head, giving a second thought.

Kas grabbed Jaden and put them both in the sand “They want us dead too!” he yelled as he was quickly trying to figure a way out of the situation. He had to get the kids out of here, “Temza!” he shouted, grabbing her attention, “Get back to the ship!” he then dragged Jaden with him as he stood up.

They sprinted in the direction of the settlement. Kas was watching as settler after settler was killed. They stepped over their bodies and took cover using the buildings and returned fire. The settlers were only delaying the inevitable. Both of them went for cover as they used the building in the settlement as cover. Temza sprinted towards the ship as T-IK followed behind her, using himself as a shield. T-IK had both arms rotated backward and firing killing stormtroopers.

Kylo Ren stood back and watched events unfold, it was slightly amusing and bothersome that the bounty hunters were still alive. All the settlers had surrendered by this point or died. If anything, their credits were put to good use. The team was competent, at least. Then he felt something was wrong, a disturbance. The sound of a blaster firing came from behind him. He activated his lightsaber and turned around used The Force to put the blaster bolt and the man who fired into stasis.

Poe had given the key to BB-8 and told him to run. He wanted to help Wedge and stop the bounty hunters. However, he didn’t make it as he watched Wedge be cut down by Kylo Ren. He snuck around to try to kill one of the leaders of the First Order. He went unnoticed as he snuck around all the troops and took aim with his blaster-rifle and fired. He watched it sail towards Kylo Ren when he suddenly turned around and stopped it in mid-air. Poe then noticed he could not move either.

Kylo Ren knew this man he was a resistance member, then gave orders to two stormtroopers who were astonished by what they were seeing **“Bring that man to me,”** he ordered. He walked towards Phasma to give her an order. The blaster bolt then flew past the stormtroopers and hit the sand, blasting a small spray into the air.

Temza was closing in on the ship fast, she had been lucky as she had used T-IK as a mobile cover. As she hit the cargo bay doors, she turned to T-IK, calling out, “Stay here and hold them off! I going to get the ship off the ground!” She disappeared up the stairs to the cockpit. T-IK fired rapidly, killing troopers with ease as he stood on the cargo bay ramp, cheering as fired, **“This is magnificent! So many flesh bags so little!”** he cheered as he had the time of his manufacture life.

Jaden peered around a corner of his building he was using as cover to see three stormtroopers rounding up people who had surrendered. He then quickly fired at the first stormtrooper, killing them. The next one quickly turned around about to raise his blaster, but Jaden reacted quickly, catching the blaster while it was still aimed downward. Jaden brought an elbow down on the helmet, then whipped the blaster at the trooper’s covered face and finally put a blaster bolt in the person’s head. He then waved off the people, “Run, get out of here!” he yelled. The people ran out into the desert. Suddenly he came under fire as he was spotted by more troopers, as he scrambled behind cover, he saw that his efforts were in vain as the people were killed.

Jaden tried to peek out only for blaster bolts to hit the wall close to his face. Jaden could make out four men that were pinning him down. Kas then leaped from one of the homes and used the stormtroopers to cushion his fall. He rolled off them and pulled a large blade out of the sheath on his back. It was a sword that was four feet in length from tip to hilt. The hilt was a more curved handle that was more of a handle to a blaster pistol. The guard was black, and the blade itself was a steel grey. The end of the sword contained an energy outlet.

The Stormtroopers back away slightly, but they quickly aimed at the Shistavanen. Kas, however, was not idle as he slashed one across the chest, then followed up quickly with a spinning slash to kill another trooper. The third trooper managed to get a shot off, but Kas used his blade to block the bolt that dissipated when it made contact. Kas then leaped high in the air, the trooper followed firing as he did. The trooper stood still trying to shoot the descending Shistavanen. Kas landed on the trooper crushing him into to ground.

Then the final stormtrooper walked up to the man, before throwing the blaster aside and spoke, “Bounty hunter scum! Hiring you was a mistake,” he said as he pulled a shock baton from behind the small of his back. He extended it as electricity crackled through the baton, he twirled it around him, then did a flashy spin around his legs and finally swung up aiming for his chin. Kas slashed downward, meeting the baton. The stormtrooper tried to overpower the Shistavanen, but the alien was much stronger than the human.

Kas suddenly smirked, and the stormtrooper noticed the energy outlet began to glow and Kas spoke “Whoops,” he said casually before pulling a trigger in the hilt which shot a blaster bolt out of the tip of the sword putting a hole in the trooper's helmet and blowing the stormtrooper off his feet. Kas sheathed the blade as he went over to where Jaden watched the scene unfold, “You okay, kid?” he asked Jaden, who nodded. He then suddenly pushed aside Kas and shot another stormtrooper who was about to shoot Kas in the back.

“Just fine old man. You?” Jaden joked to the Shistavanen, who smirked and then motioned for Jaden to follow his lead as they stealthily moved to hide behind the debris to see that the stormtroopers have gathered all the settlers that have surrendered in the center of the settlement. All of them were being corralled like Banthas. Suddenly the remaining stormtroopers took aim. Jaden nearly jumped out to try and stop them, but was stopped by Kas who pulled him back behind cover “Kas,” Jaden whispered harshly and went to go save those people only for Kas to pull him back down again. Jaden tried to struggle as he kept putting his hand out only for Kas to stop him. Jaden looked at Kas with horror-stricken eyes mixed with rage “They are going to kill them!”

Kas pinned the young man to the ground and replied harshly in a whisper, “I know that. You go in there half-cocked they will kill us too,”

“What are we supposed to do?” Jaden asked as he watched the stormtroopers about to open fire.

“When they fire, we make a break for the ship,” Kas said as he told Jaden bluntly, “If I fall, you keep running you hear me?” he told Jaden. Das looked at the man in shock, he didn’t expect to make it out of here alive. Then the stormtroopers opened fire, and Kas yelled, “Go!” Jaden started to run, but as he heard the screams of the people, he turned to watch in horror as they were killed. Kas then pushed him in the back to get him running.

Their escape did not go unnoticed as Phasma watched as they ran, she called for stormtroopers to attack the fleeing bounty hunters “Kill them everyone except the captain I want to deal with her personally,” she told them. The stormtroopers all went after except one that was grabbed by Phasma. The taller woman stared at the stormtrooper, “You will be sent back to the reprogramming center FN-2187,” she said coldly, which caused the stormtrooper to look up at her, his mask hiding his fear.

Kas and Jaden ran for their lives as blaster bolts flew all around them, occasionally they turned around to fire only to miss themselves. Suddenly the sound of a high-powered blaster bolt blew back a stormtrooper. Kas caught a glimpse of the blaster bolt’s trail coming from a ridge where a blaster bolt shot again, killing another stormtrooper. Kas knew it was Rhia, he knew the sound of her NT-242 Sniper Rifle anywhere.

With the cover given by Rhia, they made it to the ship, where it could be mistaken as a small graveyard with the number of stormtroopers that splayed out in the sand. Then standing on the cargo bay door was T-IK, slightly damaged and sporting multiple blaster burns. T-IK watched the two male members come up **“About time you two came back. Oooo how delightfully, you brought more things to kill,”** he said as he started firing on the stormtroopers.

“Droid! Why is the ship not off the ground yet!?” Kas asked as he ran by and took cover in the ship where he could still provide covering fire. Jaden mimicked Kas as he fired, hitting a stormtrooper.

T-IK fired, killing more stormtroopers and, in a cheery voice, answered, **“Miss Temza went to power up the ship. Haven’t heard anything since,”** he said as he looked at Kas but continued to fire, killing storm troopers.

Jaden went running up “I’ll go see if she needs help!” he yelled down to the two.

“Go, kid!” Kas answered back as he continued to hold the line with his droid counterpart. Kas fired his weapon along with T-IK, who was maniacally laughing.

Jaden got to the cockpit to see Temza pressing every button on the console and to hear the ship power-up, but only for it die down “What’s wrong?” he asked as she looked at her fellow crew member.

Temza groaned in annoyance, “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be doing this!” she flipped, switched, and pushed more buttons to emphasize the predicament. Jaden then went over to the co-pilot seat, pressed a button, and flipped a switch, causing the ship the come alive and stay alive.

He then smiled at Temza, who looked at him with disbelief and told her, “Magic touch?” he said coyly before he ran to tell the others.

Temza looked at his back as he left then looked around the cockpit, “Listen to him, huh?” she gritted through her teeth as she started to get ready for take-off. 

Kas and T-IK were holding off the stormtroopers as they could not make onto the ship. Suddenly Rhia came running in and firing from behind the stormtroopers, making a path towards the cargo bay doors. She got to cover just like Kas and provided cover. Kas called out, “Wondered where you went?”

She continued to fire as she replied, “Take more than that to kill me,”

Jaden came running down and yelled, “We are taking off! Get inside!” he warned, and everyone did as he told them, with T-IK still blasting through the closing gap. The stormtroopers concentrated their fire on the ship.

Kas went up to the turret system hopped into the gunner seat, but found the guns not inoperable “Weapons are offline!” he yelled to Temza.

As she was strapping into the seat with T-IK in the co-pilot, she yelled back, “Hadn’t gotten around to it yet! You were lucky I got the engine working!” Jaden ran out to the turret controls and attempted to reroute power to the guns.

Outside the ship, the stormtroopers were firing everything they had at the ship. The damage they were causing was minimal, with the blasters only doing superficial damage to the hull of the ship. Kylo Ren walked up behind the stormtrooper as the ship was now starting to rise into the air. The ship turned and began to fly off, leaving the First Order behind. Kylo Ren reached out his hand and used The Force to stop the ship.

Temza tried to maneuver the ship forward more, but again to no avail, “Why aren’t we moving?” she tried pushing more power to the engines. The ship continued to strain and still not move.

Rhia ran over to a monitor that showed Kylo Ren reaching out to them, stopping them with the mythical power “It’s the Sith Lord! He’s stopping us!” she yelled as the ship suddenly dipped and started to be pulled down. Rhia looked over to the screen seeing Kylo Ren pulling them down, “We’re going down!” she screamed out, terrified.

Kas and Jaden were able to hear them where they were on the ship. Jaden gave a look to Kas, who looked at the kid and then processed what the kid was going to do, “No kid don’t!” he yelled as he tried to reach out to him. Jaden felt deep down within himself and felt the energy that was always present; he then condensed it around himself. He built up energy till couldn’t be contained anymore, and he unleashed it, throwing his arms and hands up, letting out a yell of exertion.

Kylo held the ship within his grasp with The Force. He was in the process of bringing it down out of the sky. The bounty hunters were going to die for their actions. However, he then felt a disturbance in The Force. Then he felt his grip loosen, and then suddenly an explosion in The Force pushed away his hold **“Impossible,”** he said as he watched the ship shoot off away from him.

Temza was fighting with everything she had to get the ship moving, she had the engines at full throttle, and it was redlining by the amount of stress they were on. The ship suddenly jerked and rocketed out of her control. She tried to get the ship under her control to no avail, then she got on the comm system of the ship and yelled through it, “Everyone hold on!” Temza fought for control of the ship. It started to gain altitude when suddenly an explosion rocked them within their seats, then another “T-IK what happened?”

The droid quickly brought up a damage report **“Engines two and four have overloaded, Miss Temza,”** he said rather calmly, and then he told her **“There is good news, however,”**

Temza could not believe what she heard. Two out of the four engines were gone, and they were about to probably blow up in mid-air, “What’s the good news?”

T-IK looked over at her and told her the new **“We’re about to land,”** Suddenly, their ship’s nose-dived the ground coming at them rapidly, and then their world went black.

Kylo Ren watched as the ship flew into the distance and then back at his hand, what he felt was powerful. It was unlike anything he had experienced for many years, he then dropped his hand and walked back to his ship when Phasma walked up to him **“Orders sir?”**

Kylo continued to walk towards the shuttle, not even glancing at her **“Leave them. When they leave the planet, we will deal with them then,”** and with that, all the First Order members left the planet to head back to the Finalizer.

Jaden felt like he had tried to ride a Bluurg for hours and failed every single attempt. He was sore all over, and he had dried trail of blood coming from his head. He looked around and saw the ship was still in one piece. He sighed as he got up even though his beaten body protested, “Everyone alive!?” he called out.

A voice from the cockpit called out to him, “In here!” He made his way to the cockpit seeing Temza already up and working on T-IK as the droid was shutdown. The woman had a busted lip and a few bruises on her arms, but she was still moving around. Temza had a small set of tools out and using a small soldering gun that sent sparks as she made contact with the chassis of the droid. When nothing happened, she started to slightly panic, and she used it more and more, “Come on. Come on. Come on,” he said, pleadingly almost coming to tears. Jaden came over to assist her, picking up some tools. They worked together when the lights of his eyes flicked for a second, and Temza’s mood changed, “Yes! Come on! Come on!” then the lights turned off “No, no, no, no,” she stopped working too stunned to keep working

Jaden then quickly smacking the head of the droid, making the eyes come to life. Temza quickly looked to Jaden, ready to yell when the voice of T-IK brought her attention **“Miss Temza, good to see you still operating,”** Temza flung her arms around the droid’s neck with glee nearly crying and let out a slight cheer. He then looked over at Jaden, **“Still alive, are you?”**

Jaden chuckled at the remark but still got up and pat the shoulder of the droid, “Good to see you too, buddy,” and walked out. He then looked over at Rhia who was finally steering in her seat he went over to look at her “Woah, Woah, Woah. Hey! Don’t move, gotta check and see if anything’s broken,” he tried to look her over.

Rhia had her helmet removed by Jaden as he looked at her with concern. It was annoying as he hovered around her and she pushed him away “I’m fine,” she said as she stood.

Jaden back away from the shove, “If you say so,” then a growl came from the back of the ship and then heavy footsteps as Kas came into the doorway. Jaden looked to Kas and said to him, “Knew a ship crash wouldn’t kill you,” he said with a smile.

Kas looked over at Temza, T-IK, and finally, Jaden relieved to see all of them safe and relatively sound “Never, say never kid,” His eyes landed on Rhia, and he walked up to her “You okay?”

Rhia stood and went to the Shistavanen, “I’m okay,” she said, smiling up at him.

“Yeah?” he asked again.

“Yeah,” she said back.

“Good, good,” Kas said, and then he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall with a snarl, his teeth bared, and a growl rumbling in his throat. Rhia went for his hand trying to pry it off while he spoke to her “Now you can tell us what the hell that was all about,”

Rhia struggled as she tried to pry the hand off her throat, “Let go of me,” she commanded.

“I would explain before I get angry,” Kas said, applying more pressure to her throat.

A blaster pressed against his stomach didn’t deter Kas from his action, “I said LET. ME. GO,” she said in a quiet fury.

“Not till you tell us why you gambled with our lives!” he didn’t bat an eye as he demanded.

“It was personal,” she said as the grip got tighter.

“Uh-uh, you don’t get to play that card. Tell us! Now!” Kas yelled, and suddenly she used the butt of her blaster to hit Kas in the face, which caused him to drop her. Rhia aimed her blaster at Kas, and he drew his Blastsword snarling. The three other crewmembers just watched the scene unfold, nobody moving, letting the two elder members standoff one another. The two stared each other down for what felt like ages, neither making a move. Kas stopped growling and put the sword back in its sheath slowly, and Rhia aimed her blaster at the floor. Kas troughed forward and looked down at her, and she stared up at him “Once we get off this sand pebble, we are going to finish this conversation,” he said walking past her “Then me and the kids get out of here,” and then he left the cockpit calling out “Come on let's get this old girl off the ground,” Temza, Jaden and T-IK following close behind.

Kas looked to Temza and T-IK, “Go and see what needs to be worked on immediately,” Temza nodded, and T-IK followed gladly right behind her. Once they were alone, Kas grabbed Jacen by the shoulder and guided him to one of the crew quarters shutting the door behind them for privacy. Jaden went over to the bed and sat while Kas stood in front of him. Kas sighed as he rubbed his eyes “What you did was stupid and dangerous,” 

Jaden looked up, “What was I supposed to do? Let us get killed by that guy?” he could believe what he was hearing.

Kas tried to calm the kid “We would have found a way out. Like always,” he said, leaning against the door.

“We didn’t have time to think of a plan. I did this to save everyone if I didn’t do what I did the First Order would have taken us and who knows what they would have done to us,” Jaden argued. He looked down

“Jaden, listen to me. Never use The Force again. It will get you killed,” Kas said pleadingly.

Jaden finally blows up. All the pent-up anger he kept in finally let out, “You didn’t feel what I felt. The guy in all black it was a void,” Jaden looked down and slightly rubbed his arms “I felt the hatred and darkness rolling off him. I never felt something like that before,” some of the objects in the room started to slightly twitch and shake in their place.

Kas walked to the kid and looked down at him “I promised to watch your back, and I am doing that now,” Kas he pat the kid’s shoulder and walked to the open door “Let’s go the ships not going to fix herself,” Jaden shook his head, sighing in frustration another incident and another lecture. He went after Kas to do what he could to fix the ship.

The crew had worked from till the sun rose, trying to repair what they could with the tools they had and the spare parts they had. Jaden had finished working on one of the engines when he pulled off a pair of protective goggles and gave a heavy sigh, “Two of the engines are shot. We are going to have to replace them,” he said, wiping his hands on a rag coming out of the engine room and walking to the crew in the galley with T-IK right behind him.

T-IK then stuck his node into the holo-table to project the parts they needed to fix the ship, **“There is a small junkyard settlement here called Niima Outpost. Not far from it is a ship graveyard, we will most likely find the parts there,”** he said as he pulled out his node.

Temza replied already asking about the nick in their plan “Can the ship make it to the outpost with just the two engines? Without blowing up, of course,” she could pilot anything that could fly, hover, hell even on things that used legs to move. However, she would not want to blow-up in the process.

Jaden countered, “Me and T-IK made her sky worth. I just wouldn't try flying her in space even with a working hyperdrive,”

Rhia then stood up “We know what we need to do. Let’s get moving,” if she had noticed she got up alone, the rest of the crew looking to Kas. Kas nodded, and everyone went to their stations.

It took them to about midday to reach Niima Outpost, and when they did, the occupants of the small outpost saw a beat to hell, smoking and nearly destroyed Vigil come back nearly crashing into the sand. As they stepped out into the blistering heat of the midday sun, a groan came from Kas, his fur making him even hotter than the others, “Alright, me and T-IK are going to go out in the ship graveyard,” he said.

T-IK was less than pleased to be paired with Kas, **“Great stuck with a walking carpet,”** he said as he looked away from Kas and started walking towards the graveyard taking in an old Imperial Destroyer, particularly.

“Jaden, you and Temza go see if there are any parts we can buy,” Kas said as he dug into the pocket of his shorts and pulled a fist full of credits “Here are 10,000 credits, try and haggle for better price,” he then began walking off to go after the droid. Jaden and Temza did the same as the other two,

Rhia stood there and looked at Kas as he went by, “And what about me?” she asked.

“Just stay put and guard what’s left of the ship,” Kas told her as he walked into the desert. Rhia groaned and went to do as she was told.

Temza and Jaden walked towards the center of the Niima Outpost, where they spotted a line of people waiting to talk to someone in a shaded shop stand. Temza looked at Jaden opening up “I’m glad we got away from that,” she said honestly.

“Kas has right to be pissed. We all do,” Jaden replied

“They looked ready to kill each other,” Temza said, worry in her voice.

Jaden snorted, “Listen, Temza, I know that you are new to being a bounty hunter, but what Rhia did could have gotten all of us killed!” he yelled, causing attention to be drawn to them while pointing directly past her head in the direction of the Vigil.

Temza looked at him standing strong and said, “I am just saying maybe we should give her the benefit of the doubt,” Jaden was about to say something but bit his tongue and just exhaled not wanting to say anything he would regret at the moment.

The two stood in silence until they were nearly at the front of the line when Temza spoke “Let me do the talking I speak the language of these kinds of people,” Jaden just raised an eyebrow as he watched Temza strut over to the hut with confidence. The alien behind the counter was a Crolute that goes by the name Unkar Plutt, and he looked down at the Dathomirian from his higher position “I’m looking for a few parts, and I know a smart man like has to have some of them,” she put on a smile and went to lean on the counter putting a datapad on the counter.

That proved dangerous as two men dressed in ragged garbs aimed blasters at Temza who backed up raising her hands which caused a chuckle to escape from Unkar “Smart move girl,” he took the datapad in his grubby hands “Hmm, I have a hyperdrive core,” the smile that crept across his face and he croaked out “I can give it to you for 250,000 credits,”

Temza’s shock was not contained as she yelled, “Are you kidding me? I could buy a ship for that amount,”

“A hyperdrive core is hard to find in a place like this,” Unkar let his arms out like he was presenting the planet “So a quarter-million credits doesn’t seem like much for people in need and since I have the only one I set the asking price,” he smiled creepily and gave a light chortle.

As Temza was arguing with Unkar, Jaden felt a pull from The Force. He walked away from Temza and was guided to a table that was scattered with different parts around and at the table with a rag in her hand rubbing grime and dirt from a piece of metal was a young woman. She was beautiful, Jaden couldn’t help but stare at her near porcelain skin and her hair that was done up three buns. The young woman took notice of him and suddenly moved her parts closer to her and eyed Jaden wearily. Jaden then put his hands up, showing no intention of taking her salvage, “Hey. Woah, easy, I’m not gonna steal your stuff?” he put on a smile to try and calm the woman.

The woman wore a white tank-top, a baggy grey pair of shorts that stopped at her calves and brown boots. Around her arms were grey cloths that went up to her triceps, and on the left wrist was a leather band. Over her clothing was a sleeveless tunic that draped around her like a robe, and next to her was a staff, her preferred weapon. She looked up at Jaden and asked, “What do you want?”

Jaden couldn’t come up with an answer, so he just down at the workspace across from her and stared at her. The young woman stared back expectantly, losing her patience as she slowly used the cover of the table to reach for her staff, she remembered it was the quiet ones she had to be careful of. Jaden then put his hand out, “I’m Jaden, what’s your name?”

The girl looked at the extended appendage and then back at Jaden. She reached out slowly almost reluctantly shook, “My name is Rey,” he said as she shook.

Jaden smiled as he retracted his hand, “So, Rey, nice name. Looking at the ship parts in front of you. I take it you been in the ship graveyard?” he asked, and Rey nodded her head “So, you know almost every ship in their right?” again she nodded “Alright here, he pulled out his own datapad and handed it to her “Think you could find some of those parts?”.

Rey had never seen a datapad in such condition before, it looked almost new, but she skimmed all the part they were looking for and then handed him back “You will be lucky if you find any of those out in the graveyard,” she then pointed her head towards where Unkar and Temza were still haggling “Unkar has most of those parts, but he can smell when he can take advantage of people. You will be lucky if he gives you any of those parts for a reasonable amount,” Rey answered.

Jaden peered back over his shoulder to see Unkar’s guards pointing their weapons at Temza, who was reaching for her blaster. It seemed negotiations broke down, then an idea popped in his head “What if you help me find those parts?” Rey looked at him in confusion “I’ll pay of course. For every part you help us find, I will give you 100 credits,”

Rey leaned in close “200,” she said her counteroffer.

Jaden leaned in closer “120,”

Rey countered “180,”

Jaden then got up “Thanks for the info Rey, but to rich for my blood,”

Jaden walked away briskly and was about to go help Temza, “Alright! 150 that is as low as I will go,” he smirked his bluff worked.

He then went to Temza as she just pulled her blaster out of her holster, ready to start shooting, “Hey, hey, hey Temza lets leave the ugly fish-faced man alone,” as he slightly dragged her away pinning her shooting hand to the side. As he maneuvered her to the table Rey sat at “Temza, meet Rey,” Temza stared at the younger woman who looked at the woman with the fairer skin then her “She is going to help us find those parts,”

Temza looked at Jaden in shock then back at Rey, “Are you kidding?”

**An: Alright everyone! There it was my take on the sequel trilogy. I hope you all enjoy reading as much as I did writing it. Also please got to page and do the poll I have posted, I hoped to have taken it down by now but I am in a deadlock for a choice so please go and vote if you would. It will make my day. Thank you.**

**Knox**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaden travels with a new friend. Kas and Rhia are still butting heads and Temza starts to get a feel for being a bounty hunter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so far so good, I thank you all who have read this story, thank you to the few people who gave kudos. I was hoping for more feedback, but beggars can’t be choosers.   
> As always, here is the cast so that no one forgets.   
> Kas – Jon Bernthal   
> Rhia – Elodie Yung   
> Temza – Cara Delevingne   
> T-IK – David Tennant   
> Jaden - Dylan O’Brien

**Jakku – Niima Outpost**

Jaden looked at Temza with confusion, “No. Why?” he answered, then asked. Rey looked at him with confusion as well as misunderstanding the problem and hoping that they didn’t back out of the deal that was made. 

Temza grabbed him by the elbow, luring him away while looking back, calling out to Rey, “Excuse us for a second,” Rey sat there stunned. She was unable to reply due to the abrupt departure. They got away from the table and away from prying ears, “What are you thinking? Asking a desperate scavenger for help?” she berated Jaden.

Jaden thought he gave a good reason before. Still, he would repeat himself, “I thought we could use someone who knew the planet and knew the starships around to make it easier to find parts,” he tried explaining.

Temza groaned, looking ready to hit him, “And what is stopping her from ratting us out to the Crolute and then he rats us out to the First Order!?” she explained her concern and gritted teeth. They were already stranded; they didn’t need to add to their list of problems.

Jaden, though, looked at the table where Rey was still staring at them from afar, “Rey won’t,” he said. The Force had guided him to her for a reason, and he doubted it would be for her to betray him.

Temza saw him look at this Rey and snapped her fingers, “Hey! Stop looking at the pretty girl and focus. How do you know “Rey” won’t sell us out?” she put up air quotes as she said Rey’s name.

Jaden looked at Temza before leaning in close to whisper to her, “We could use the extra help, and you know it,” the crew wanted to get off-planet. They would need all the hands they could get to help them, “The more help we have, the faster we can leave. The faster we leave, the faster we get to leave this problem behind,” he said to her.

Temza sighed before saying, “Fine. She’s your responsibility,” she pointed at his chest, poking him. She then patted his shoulder and started to walk towards where the ship had landed, “Also, you get to tell Kas about your new little scavenger,” she smiled to him and walked away smiling. Jaden had to groan at the remark. Temza was right Kas was going to pissed with the arrangement he just made with his input.

Jaden groaned as he walked over to the bench, and he found Rey nowhere in sight. He quickly checked his pocket to see if she had picked it but found his credits still in their proper place. With a sigh of relief, he was about to walk away from the whole thing when he heard Unkar hum in deep contemplation. Jaden had heard that noise a many of times, it was the usual sound of someone about to get taken for a fool. He looked at the front of the line to see who the fool was and saw Rey. Unkar then added more to the show by rubbing his chin in thought with his fat fingers, “This is worth… half a portion,” he said with finality. Jaden, at this point, had walked past everyone in line to get to the girl. Unkar put down the rations that he was willing to give. 

Rey looked disappointed at the portion she was given for her part that seemed to be of higher quality. She was about to reach for it when the boy from before came up to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, “Hey, what are you doing?” he asked. Unkar saw the boy who wanted a hyperdrive core. He turned around to put her part with others. He smirked the part he was given could sell for an enormous profit, not that he would let the girl know. He placed it on the pile behind him.

Rey was startled and confused why the boy came up to her and was acting the way he did, “I’m… getting my portion for today,” she slightly paused, trying to process what he was asking her.

Jaden looked at the powder and the small pieces of dehydrated food. It was the least appetizing thing he had ever seen, and he had seen people eat Gorgs, “Yeah, that looks…great,” he said in sarcasm. He then saw the part Rey was working on the pile Unkar had taken. He saw the look of disappointment on Rey’s face, and he could let her be taken advantage of. He leaned on the counter of Unkar’s little makeshift shop, “So are you going to take me up on my offer?”

Rey looked at him with more confusion, she had told him what her answer was, “You know I said yes. We shook on it. Did your partner put an end it?” Unkar was getting annoyed as they blocked his other scavengers bringing him more valuable components and parts.

Jaden continued to play his game, “No, she was thrilled to have you,” he said, waving her off and the doubt from the girl. While he talked, he started to concentrate using the Force on the part, and it began to slightly move.

Unkar slammed his meaty fist down on the counter, and as soon as he did, the part flew to Jaden’s hand going unnoticed by both Unkar and his guard, “Buy or get lost! I have business with my other scavengers,” he threatened. The guards were placing their hands on their weapons, ready to get rid of the two troublemakers.

Jaden slipped the part into his sleeve before grabbing Rey’s hand and raising his other, “Hey. Alight we’re going,” he started to slowly drag her away from the Crolute, but not before she took the portions she was given.

Rey took notice of the hand-holding, “Why are you holding my hand?” she questioned. Jaden ignores her and keeps moving. Unkar let out a mixture of a grunt and a huff as he dealt with the next scavenger he was going to rip off.

As Rey and Jaden walked in a random direction, he slipped the part out his sleeve and presented it to her as they walked, “Here, you can have this back,” he offered it to her.

Rey looked at the part with surprise, “How did you get that?” she grabbed hold of it with awe.

Jaden smirked while putting his hands up and fluttering his fingers, “Do you believe in magic?” was his counter-question. He liked to play his use of the Force as a trick.

Rey rolled her eyes at her new client “Could you get some more portions with your magic?” she asked inquisitively. She worked hard in the blazing sun today, and she was famished.

Jaden looked at her with a raised eyebrow, “How about you help me get some parts first, then we can discuss meals,” he smiled as he motioned her to lead him. Rey took it as her cue as she led him to her speeder. Jaden walked around the speeder with an inquisitive eye, “I’m surprised you could find a speeder that was already claimed by the Crolute,”

Rey stood proudly in front of the pilot seat with her hands on her hips, “I built it myself, from parts I found in the Graveyard and in junk piles in Niima. Along with a few things, I got in trade from the Teedos. Everything was stuff I scavenged, or that other people had thrown away,” she smiled proudly at her achievement that she made herself with the help of no one.

“Who are the Teedos?” Jaden asked while he lightly laughed at the girl, it was clear that she rarely got to discuss anything about herself that didn’t pertain to salvage or food. He did have one question that was bothering him; however, “Where am I going to sit?”

Rey sat in the pilot seat before putting on a wrapping that went around her hair and covering her head to her neck but leaving her face uncovered. The excess was left around her neck. She then put some goggles that rest on her forehead. She pats at the extra space of seat behind, “Right here,” she smiled.

Jaden didn’t like this idea one bit and firmly stated, “No, that’s not happening,”

Rey looked at him, confused. Was the boy stupid? So she wanted his idea on how they were traveling, “Then how do you expect to get there? By foot?”

Jaden answered back fidgeting where he stood, “Thinking about it, yeah,”

Rey laughed, “Don’t be stupid, get on,” she looked at him, waiting patiently. When Jaden didn’t move, she scuffed, “You want to travel for hours in this heat?”

Jaden looked around, contemplating the idea and then suddenly groaned, “Fine, but not a word to anyone,” he then hoped on the seat while holding on the seat for support. He hoped that Temza wasn’t still around to see this.

Rey put part of the cloth over her mouth, which hides a smile, and told Jaden, “Hold on,” She revved the throttle, and they were off. Jaden shouted in a mixture of worry and excitement as they rode over the dune of sand. The ride was short-lived as they made it to the Graveyard of Giants in no time.

They two then quickly set out to find the parts needed. They didn’t know how long they were out in the graveyard. Jaden got off first and stretched. He pulled out up his list and handed it to Rey, “Where can we start first?”

Rey quickly ran to an old Star Destroyer, and Jaden followed behind. Rey immediately started to climb the massive ship. They quickly found a way inside and began to get to work. They had no idea how long they were in there, but time seemed to fly by as they worked, laughed, and helped one another explore the ship. The emerged they could see that while the sky was still bright, but they probably only had two more hours of sun before night came.

Jaden was in the process of attaching the last of the parts that were on the list, “That’s the last of them,” he clapped his hands at a job well done. Rey was already on the pilot seat, ready to go, “Oh no. You drove here. I drive back,”

Rey gave a humorless laugh and shook her head in disbelief. She gave huffed before scooting back, “Here, just don’t crash her,” she instructed. Jaden hopped on. He took the goggles from Rey, “The handle on the right does…” she was telling Jaden before he revved the throttle.

Jaden looked over his shoulder, smirking, “I got it,” they then shot off. When they did, however, Rey instantly gripped him around the waist and leaned into her body into his.

They arrived in no time back to Niima Outpost, but they did not stop at the distribution station they went to the landing area, “Where are we going?” Rey asked, seeing they were not stopping.

Jaden kept his eyes in front and called back, “What you don’t want a meal and get paid?” he slowed down significantly so they would not hit anyone as they walked around the outpost.

Rey sat in shock as she never been invited for a meal before, “Are you sure?” She fidgeted a tiny bit as she asked, “I don’t want to overstep,” she said apprehensively.

Jaden didn’t look back as he said, “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t sure. Come on, I owe you,” Rey didn’t talk know how to respond as she felt a warmth in her heart at being invited to each with someone. The duo silently made it to the Vigil at a steady pace. Rey looked at every ship that was stationed in the landing area. Each one was glorious and clean, looking like the kind of ship that would bring adventure to all those who were in it.

When her eyes came upon the Vigil, that immediately changed, as she saw the ship that looked to be a total wreck. The duo had gotten off the speeder, and Rey got a full look of the vessel. She had no idea where they had been, but the ship looked to be nearly unrepairable. She even witnessed a panel fall from the underside of the ship into the sand below, “Your ship looks like it has seen better days,” she said politely. Just by the sight of it, she guessed the ship could even make it off the ground.

Jaden gave a tired sigh, “You could say that again,” as they stared at it for a second before Jaden waved at her to follow, “Come on,” he said. Jaden immediately went over to the ship’s landing ramping and tapped the button to release the door. The ramp opened and allowed the two in the ship before closing behind them. Inside looked better than Jaden and the others had left it. Jaden had to assume that Rhia had cleaned when they left. The quickly made it to the first deck of the ship and into the galley. He directed Rey to take a seat in the small mess hall, “Take a seat. Relax, when the rest of the crew gets back, we can get dinner in you and get you paid,” Rey plopped down on the chair and bounced in surprise she had never sat in something so comfortable before.

She smiled lightly as she looked around, seeing all sorts of this new and never before seen trinkets. She saw that most of the crew quarters were opened except for one which was sealed and showing it was locked by the red button showing brightly on the door panel. She wondered around the ship until she heard music.

She followed the sound until she came found herself in the cockpit of the ship. The music was coming from a set of speakers within the pilot console. She heard drums, string instruments, and the singing reminded her of deep bellow from the throat, “Like the music?” a voice behind her startled her. It was Temza, and she was smiling at the younger girl’s startled expression. She came over and pointed at the speakers where the song was coming from, “This a band my dad listened to when he was growing up,” she informed the young scrapper.

Rey looked at the speakers with a smile as she continues to listen to the music it produced. Temza sat in the pilot’s seat, where she started to scan through a holopad. Rey listened as the song ended, it was beautiful, “Your father had good taste. I have never heard something like this before,” she said as Temza smiled.

Temza walked over to another console and began tinkering with it. She was trying to divert power to the less damaged area of the ship, “Yeah dad was scrapper for years, and he used to listen to them while he worked to drown out the noise,” she said to the girl.

Rey was intrigued as she opened her mouth to say something when a mechanical voice beat her to it, **“Miss Temza, I am glad to see you are still functioning. I hope the other male kept his hands to himself…”** T-IK walked into the cockpit and found Temza seated at one of the other consoles, but then there was another female in the cockpit as well. The female was younger than Temza, more around the age of the male flesh bag. Instantly the armaments shot out of his back, and he stalked towards Rey, who was trapped between the console and the threatening droid, **“What do we have here? A Womp Rat stowaway? Well, you know what we do with stowaways?”** T-IK threateningly asked the teenage girl. Rey shook her head, and that seemed to bring joy to the droid, **“Why don’t I show you,”** the droid said in an ominous tone as he stepped forward.

Temza let her droid have his fun, but the frightened girl looked close to screaming, so she called out T-IK, “T-IK knock it off,” she said lazily while she continued to work.

The armaments receded into the back of the droid as he then walked away from Rey, who eyed the droid warily. T-IK sat down in the co-pilot and asked, **“Miss Temza, why must you ruin my fun?”**

Temza didn’t bother looking at the droid, “Your fun isn’t fun for anyone else,” she said to her droid. T-IK didn’t respond to Temza as he sat down and put his probe into the console and began assisting.

Rey was about to leave when she jumped to the sound of someone yelling, “You did what!?” Temza let out a short laugh as she knew Jaden was getting chewed out.

In the galley, Jaden had been making food for the crew when he heard the door to the ramp open and then close a couple seconds later. The sound of metallic footsteps stomped up from the stairs. T-IK emerged first from the stairway but didn’t acknowledge him. Then cam Kas who looked exhausted and miserable, “How was your day, kid? Any luck getting a Hyperdrive Core?” he asked as he sat at the counter of the galley.

Seeing that Kas was in a foul mood, Jaden had to ease into the fact he had hired an outside scavenger to help them, “Yeah, the Crolute that runs the place has one. He wants 250,000 credits for it,” Jaden informed Kas.

Kas let out a mixture of a snarl and a groan, “Can this get any worse?” he asked no more in particular.

It was Jaden's opportunity now, “I got most of the parts we need to fix the ship,” he revealed.

Kas looked up and eyed the kid for a second, “How did you manage that?”

Jaden continued to make the meal as he shrugged his shoulders, “Well, I have had a little help,” he said with some confidence.

Kas’ eyes narrowed, and his ears flattened as he grew suspicious, “Help from where?” he asked anger at the edge of his voice.

Jaden again shrugged as he continued cooking “I may have hired a scavenger to help me. And I offered her 150 credits for each part,” he said.

Kas stood from his seat, slamming his hand on the counter, and roared out, “You did what!?” his teeth were showing as he walked over to Jaden, making the kid back up.

Kas stopped when he felt an object hit his back. He quickly turned around and found a teenage girl with a staff in her hand. Kas started to pull out his Blastsword when Jaden got in the middle of them, “Okay, easy. Kas, this is Rey. Rey, this is Kas,” he tried to introduce them to one another.

Kas quickly retreated his hand from his Blastsword before he turned towards Jaden, “You hired her, you pay her,” he simply said. He walked past Rey but not before giving her a warning “You attack me from the back again you better kill me,” Rey stood absolutely still. She didn’t want to move as the wolf-like alien left them alone in the galley retiring to his room.

Jaden gave her an apologetic smile and continued with cooking the meal, “Sorry about him. Years of being a bounty hunter made him like that,”

Rey slowly sat at the counter and watched as he worked in the kitchen. In no time, he had made a pot of Nuna Gumbo. Rey looked at the pot with awe and feeling her stomach practically do a backflip at the smell that enter her nose. Jaden saw the look and lightly chuckled as he got a bowl and poured the first one for Rey. Soon the scent drew everyone to the table in no time. Then there was someone that Rey did not meet yet, and she was dressed head to two in armor.

Rhia came in looking for food but found a new addition to her ship. She quickly put her hand on her blaster, “Who are you?” she asked her tone, not the least bit friendly.

Rey was about to reach for her staff when Jaden got between them and stared the woman down, “Back off Rhia,” he said just as dangerous. His hand was going for his blaster as well. The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Rhia grabbed her bowl and strutted off towards her room.

Rey had only met Jaden only a few hours ago. In all that time, he had never shown any signs of aggression or brutality. When she saw him act the way he did only just a few seconds ago, it frightened her. She knew that it was probably personal, but her curiosity the best of her, “What was that about?” she asked timidly.

Jaden then just shook his head as he stared at the door that was Rhia’s quarters, “Sorry, she was our captain,” he said as he got a bowl for himself. He took a seat, but not before offering a place beside himself to Rey.

“Was?” Rey questioned as she caught up on the way he phrased his last sentence.

“It's complicated. Don’t let that ruin your meal,” Jaden said to her. Rey took out a spoonful of the gumbo, and as soon as it hit her tongue, her eyes lit up. She shoveled some more before starting to laugh at how good it was. Jaden grinned at her reaction, “Bet that tastes better than those portions you are given,” he smirked as Rey nodded her head as she ate.

Temza walked in and grabbed a bowl, and sat across the two. She dug into her food and said to Rey, “Sorry about T-IK. He is only friendly to me. So please don’t take it personally,” Temza said and asked Rey to forgive her beloved partner.

Jaden smirked at Rey while saying, “If it makes you feel better, he still threatens to kill me all the time,” he talked about like it was a common occurrence.

Rey asked, “Why is he like that?” she was curious why they have droid around that wanted to kill everyone.

Temza laughed and looked bashful at the question, “Let’s just say you should check the parts you use before you build something,” Temza answered, smirking before eating what was on her spoon.

Kas came in next as he grabbed a bowl himself. He sat next to Temza and dug in. Rey didn’t want to speak. She was being cautious, looking at her staff that leaned against the table next to her. Kas chewed the food in his mouth before speaking to Rey, “Still here, huh?” He looked up at her as he continued to eat, “So you are the one who got us our parts?” it was more of a statement than a question. Rey nodded, unable to find her voice. Kas grunted, swallow and continued, “And you can handle yourself in a fight,” Rey didn’t know how to respond to that remark as she nodded for a second time. Kas stared at her in the eye for a second, “Well, how does this sound?” Rey started to dread where the conversation as going. The frown on her face shows how she felt. Kas placed his spoon in his bowl, pushed it away, crossed his arms, and leaned back in his chair, “Join us,” he said, smirking, “Could always use a resourceful person like yourself.”

Rey instantly reeled back. She couldn’t believe what she was just asked. Everyone had different reactions, Temza just smiled coyly. Jaden elbowed her side and then smiled while taking a drink. Rey felt her heart clench as she abruptly got up and started collecting her stuff in a rush. Jaden saw the panic look in her eye, and the Force helped him feel the fear that radiated from her. He got to try and stop her, “Hey Rey! Wait!” Rey was already down the stair as Jaden went after her. 

Rey was in the middle of unhooking the parts from her speedster when Jaden came out of the ship. She pulled them over to the landing door and dropped them in front of Jaden, who was standing there in confusion. While she did this, she refused to look at him. After she was finished, she reached her hand out towards him expectantly. Jaden knew precisely what she wanted, but before he would give her what she was owed, “Rey, what was all that about?”

Rey just stood there, her hand still out looking for payment, “Please give me what you promised,” she said in a mixture of a broken and terrified tone.

Jaden came up to talk to her, and she stepped away, still not looking at him. Jaden pursed his lips in annoyance while stepping back with hands raised. Jaden just grit his teeth as he was confused with the situation and with Rey.

Jaden let out a heavy sigh, not hiding his disappointment before he took out the credits, he had on him. He gave her a handful of credit. She looked at them for a second before stuffing them in her belt before hopping on her speedster. As she gave Jaden a final look of sorrow, she went off on her speedster. Jaden sighed in misery as he watched the girl leave. He had gotten the parts inside the ship, and then went back out the ship. He climbed out on top of the ship and looked out at the horizon. The sun what just about to disappear behind the dunes. The setting sun made the sky orange.

Jaden let out an exhale through his nose as he watched the sun slowly descend and the heat from the day radiating from the sand. It gave a mirage of the sun reflecting off the sand. The day was ending its journey, and tomorrow, the sun will come up again, making the same journey. Jaden let his feet dangle from the side of the Vigil. He was tired, he thought of himself as the sun always in a constant cycle of following Kas around. He needed to feel like his life mattered in the significant scope of the galaxy. Then again, he was nobody, a nobody. He let out a heavy sigh as he laid on his back and watched the night slowly take over the sky. His eyes became heavy, and he was asleep.

**“What do you want me to say, kid?”**

**“You know you remind me of someone.”**

**“You have to choose who you want to become.”**

**“You use the Force in ways I could never imagine.”**

**“I will take that sun and block it out.”**

**“JADEN!!!!!!!!!!”**

**“You will fall, and everyone around you will suffer!”**

**“I will be with, always. My little galaxy.”**

Sand levitated up like particles in the moonlight. Inside the ship, the crew was facing similar experiences. Kas watched as tools in the engine room floated by him. He immediately dropped a tool he was using to fix the engine and burst out looking for his young friend. Temza and T-IK watch the sand levitating out the window of the ship. Awe was evident on Temza’s face, blown away by what she was seeing, and T-IK was confused as he was unable to process what he was seeing. Rhia sat in her room, which was decorated in a traditional Mandalorian fashion. She kneeled on her floor watching as her blasters and helmet floated in the air, “What is this?” she asked herself. Then as abruptly it started, it ended. Tools, weapons, and helmet clattered to the metal floor. Kas popped his head out of Jaden’s room, watching as Temza and Rhia stood in the galley looking at Kas.

Jaden shot up, gasping for air. He had plenty of dreams and nightmares, but nothing that made him react like that. What were those voices? He could tell one of them was Kas’, and another was Rey’s. However, the other voices were new to him. Just what was happening to him?

He felt himself reach out with the Force, unable to stop himself. He looked around and found that perhaps only a few minutes had passed. He put the back of his hand on his forehead as he looked up to the sky. The trails of ships jumping and falling out of dashed across the stars. Jaden inhaled and exhaled for an unknown amount of time.

His ears picked up the sound of beeps and whoops coming from over the dune. Jaden’s curiosity got the better of him, making him run to see what was making that noise. He found a little green alien riding a Luggabeast while dragging an orange and white BB-8 unit. The little droid was trying to roll in the opposite direction the alien was dragging it to no avail. Jaden could have sworn he had seen the droid somewhere but couldn’t place it.

Jaden called out, “Hey!” while charging at the little alien. Luckily the alien’s Luggabeast was docile as all it did was stop and not attack. The alien atop its mount started chittering while trying to intimidate the human by brandishing a staff. Looking at it now, Jaden could see that this was Teedo, as Rey described him. Jaden came to a stop out of reach of the alien’s staff. Jaden was not intimidated in the least standing his ground, _“Ah ah ah. Don’t even think about it,”_ he said as he pulled his blaster and aimed it at Teedo.

Teedo then puts his hands up after dropping his staff in the sand, surrendering to the stranger that stopped him. Jaden continued to train his blaster on Teedo as he released the droid from the netting, for which he received happy whistles and beeps of appreciation. Teedo made an attempt to try and reach for something in one of the saddlebags. His action was met with a blaster bolt that narrowly missed his face. Jaden glared at the Teedo and spoke in the alien’s dialect, _“Get lost before I put the next one between your eyes,”_ The warning did its job.

Teedo used the reins to get his Luggabeast moving as he cursed in his dialect as he slowly disappeared over a dune. Jaden kneeled down and inspected the little droid before patting the ball-shaped body, “Looks like nothing’s damaged. I say you are one lucky droid,” He stood up to his full height while looking at the droid “Why are you out here by yourself?” The droid gave a short set of beeps as an answer. Jaden scuffed, “Secret mission. Good luck with that,” he humored the droid. He dusted the sand off himself as he stood, “I don’t know this planet. I say just pick a direction and go. Best of luck!” he shouted to the droid as he walked away from it.

BB-8 rotating his head in a complete circle. The last time he went out on his own in ended up in the net and almost being sold as scrap metal. He needed to get off-world and find the Resistance. They needed the information that he carried within him. Poe needed him to complete the mission he started. His best chance was to stowaway on a ship and make his way from there. Right now, his best bet was walking away from him. The young human was so far the only being on this planet that did mean him any harm. With his resolve, he followed the young man.

Jaden opened the door to the cargo bay and walked in without noticing the little tag along behind him. Jaden quickly entered the cargo bay to find Kas sitting dead center on one of the numerous steel crates. He had his Blastsword out and was silently cleaning it. Jaden came in, and quickly he stood up, marching towards the boy. He was going to get an explanation for the stunt he pulled, “What in the hell were you thinking?” he ambushed the teen as he came in. The tone was harsh but quiet enough, so no one in the ship would hear them.

Jaden was pinned against the wall by Kas’ giant hand on his chest, “What are you talking about?!” he shouted at his mentor as not understanding what was going on. He grabbed Kas’ wrist trying to get it to loosen, it didn’t work.

Kas growled and leaned in close, staring Jaden right in the eyes, “Things were floating in the ship and outside the ship. Everyone saw something kid. Temza, Rhia and even the droid wanted an explanation,” He then went on to explain what had happened in the ship while he was outside.

Jaden let the Shistavanen tell him the events that happened. Jade quickly tried to defend himself, “No. No. No. No. I swear I didn’t do anything. I was watching the stars, and I fell asleep,” Jaden plead his case to his friend. Kas stared at him down. Seeing no lies in his eyes sighed.

Kas nearly stumbled when something crashed into his left leg. Looking down, he found a small droid looking back up him and pull out a small taser that sparked threateningly. Kas cocked his leg back, kicking the BB unit making fly across the cargo bay, making it give off a high shrill scream. Kas looked over to where the droid flew over, “What is with you and bringing home strays?” he asked the human beside him. Jaden was just as shocked seeing the droid

Temza came rushing down after hearing the crash. Seeing Jaden and Kas looking off in the corner of the ship, “Hey Jaden! Me and T-IK just saw the coolest thing outside. The sand lifted in the and it…” she stopped when angry beeping and whistling BB unit came charging at their small group. She stared at it inquisitively, thinking she saw it before. Jaden stared in mild shock, thinking he had left the droid in the desert it surprised him to see it sneaked on the ship. The little guy was a tricky little bugger.

Temza snapped her fingers as she recognized it, “This droid was at the settlement with that Resistance guy,” worry evident in her voice.

Jaden and Kas snapped their heads to the droid, and both gain a look of recognition. Kas looked at the droid that he had pinned beneath his foot, “I thought they made it out of there. Hmph guess not,” the droid whistled back at Kas, “If he was captured by the First Order, he is as good as dead,” the droid countered with more fast and angry beeps. It didn’t appreciate the harsh reality. Kas continued, “Hey! Just being honest droid,”

Temza pushed past Kas. She scuffed at his behavior and kneeled down next to BB-8, “Hey, don’t listen mean old Kas. I am sure your partner is fine,” she said while stroking the droid gently on the head.

Jaden cut in, “So? What do we do with him?” letting the question hang in the air for the rest of the crew.

Kas contemplated for a second before answering, “Sell it the Junker and help pay for the Hyperdrive core,” that option received a nasty look from Temza and angry beeps from BB-8.

Temza put a counteroffer, “I say we keep him,” that got a better response from BB and a groan from Kas. He was adorable.

BB-8 let out a string of beeps and whistles telling them what he needed from them, “Yeah, that top-secret mission you keep beeping about,” Jaden said in disbelief.

Temza asked lightly, “What is this secret mission?” Her answer was a set of high-pitched whistles, “What do mean classified? Come on, you can’t you tell me?” BB-8 responded the same, making her pout.

Jaden exhaled through his nose and then nodded, he came up with a solution, “I say we get him where he needs to be. For credits, of course. The people that you need to get to, they got money, right?” he smirked. He had a plan. If it worked, it would involve a big payday.

Kas narrowed his eyes and let out hum that was more a growl, “One problem kid, how to get the ship off-planet?” he stated the obvious. The two other crewmates couldn’t come up with an answer.

The sound of metal clanking against metal came into the cargo bay as T-IK enter the cargo bay, **“Miss Temza, you have been gone a long time is everything…”** T-IK attention brought to Temza, who was huddled next to BB-8. T-IK pointed at the other droid, **“Who is that?”**

Temza smiled at T-IK and introduced the other droid, “This is BB-8. He will be joining us,” BB-8 greeted the fellow droid with a few whistles. T-IK looked directly at the other droid then back at Temza, and the skulked back up the stairs to the cockpit. Temza let out a sigh as she got up and called out, “T-IK come back here!” she chased after her moping droid. Kas let out a huff.

Jaden looked at the BB-8 then to Kas, “For now, what do we do with him?” BB-8 started to look between the two crewmates hoping to hear they would help him complete the mission that Poe had given him.

Kas contemplated beginning to think of a plan. He grinned as he looked towards the new droid, “We have to keep him locked up and out of sight,” Kas looked at the storage crates in the corner of the cargo bay.

Jaden looked at the storage crates and then at BB-8, who stared right back, “Sorry about this,” BB-8 whirled his head back in confusion. BB-8 found himself being roughly tossed into a crate, and then lid shutting on him, leaving him in darkness. He let out a whining whistle as he was now stuck.

Kas dusted his hands off in fake achievement as he chuckled. Jaden shook his head at Kas’ antics, “So what now?” he saw the crate shift slightly as beeping was heard from inside.

Kas crossed his arms and leaned against one of the landing gear housing units, “First on the list is to get the ship fixed. Then we get the Hyperdrive core, leave this dust storm of a planet, and get paid,” Jaden nodded and took the parts and dragged them upstairs to work on the ship. Kas’ expression soured as he saw Rhia come out of one of the back stairwell, “You got something to say?”

Rhia’s scowl on her face deepened. She had heard everything, the secret mission, the plan, and the paycheck that was waiting, “I thought you were “done” working with me?” she sneered at the Shistavanen.

Kas leered down at her, “We are. We are just using your ship,”

“Then I expect payment for the use of my ship,” Rhia said back as she went retire to her room.

“Rhia! I’m still waiting for a reason,” Kas called to her. That didn’t stop her from climbing.

“You’ll be kept waiting!” she disappeared up the stairs. Kas shook his head in aggravation.

**The Finalizer**

Kylo Ren was beyond furious. He looked over at the damaged hanger that was being repaired at this moment. A traitor was amongst their ranks. The traitor took the Resistance prisoner with him in his escape, and he would not stand for it, **“I want that traitor found and brought back to me personally. Mobilize ground and airborne units. I want him found now!”** he said to Phasma as she stood by his side.

Phasma nodded her head, **“At once, sir!”** she then paused as she remembers another loose end that needed to be taken care of, **“Should we send troops for the bounty hunters as well?”** Phasma asked her leader.

Kylo world around at Phasma. She stepped away slowly, unsure of what was going to be. When he stood his ground, it was clear he was thinking over the situation, **“Yes, have them killed. I want no loose ends.”** Kylo then strutted away from Phasma, knowing his orders would be followed. Phasma bowed her head and went off to deliver the orders she was given.

**Jakku**

After an evening of repairs and a night of sleep. The crew of the Vigil sat around still stuck on Jakku. Temza was on a holopad sitting on one of the couches in the galley. Jaden had was fixing some more the ship’s systems with tools in hand. Rhia had been in her room since the confrontation with Kas. Whether from hurt or anger, Jaden didn’t know. Kas was down in cargo bay, making sure BB-8 stayed put. T-IK was on standby, waiting in the corner of the galley. Temza had done so after he moped about there being another droid on the ship.

Temza suddenly let out a cry of excitement, “Ah-ha! I found you!” she started tapping rapidly as she grinned.

Jaden looked over at Temza with a raised eyebrow as she asked, “Found what?” Temza turned the pad over and showed the screen to Jaden. Jaden copied the smile, “This is perfect,” he said confidently.

Temza, Jaden, and T-IK were now at Unkar’s little hamlet as they pushed themselves to in front of the line. Unkar let out a groan of annoyance as he saw who it was, “Back again? Unless you got the credit go bother someone else!” he let out a dismissive tone as his guards tensed, seeing the tall droid with the two troublemakers from yesterday.

Temza and Jaden smirked while looking at each other. Jaden motioned for Temza to reveal why they were there, “I believe you will be giving us that Hyperdrive core,”

Unkar let out a laugh in the girl’s face. He leaned in close face to face, “Why would I do that?” aggression seeped into his tone.

Temza gave smirk back and toss the holopad on his counter. The holopad displayed a miniature version of Unkar with a bounty worth 300,000 credits posted underneath it, “You can give us the Hyperdrive core, or we can take you. Whoever you upset wants you dead, and we will be more than happy to oblige them,” she said smugly as she fiddled with the holster on her thigh.

“Bounty hunters,” Unkar said in disgust. He looked to his bodyguards who were about to pull up the weapons to get rid of the bounty hunters. Maybe then take the bounty for themselves.

T-IK drew his blasters, aiming for their chests, **“Go ahead, make my day,”** he said hopefully. The guards dropped their guns and raised their hands, surrendering.

Temza continued to as she leaned forward Unkar as he started to sweat and leaned back, “What’s it going to be?” she smiled dangerously as she held all the cards.

Back on the ship, Kas was sitting in the cargo bay with his feet on the crate that had BB-8 in it polishing his blaster rifle. Angry whistles and beeps came from inside the container. It was silenced when Kas’ foot came down on the top it, “Knock it off droid. It’s for our own good,” he called out but got no response. He looked over at the cargo bay door, wondering where the younger crew members were and the droid too.

Suddenly the cargo bay doors opened, Kas sighed in relief as he stood up. He suddenly caught a different scent. He growled; someone was trying to get on the ship. Kas disappeared into the shadows of the cargo bay.

Finn had been able to get the door open to this ship. He poked his head inside, first making sure all was clear. He went back outside, grabbing a makeshift sled dragging it in. He looked around the interior of the ship, it seemed to have been multiple repairs done recently. He just hoped the people inside were sympathetic to his and Poe’s situation. Maybe they weren’t in, and he could steal the ship. The barrel of a blaster was pressed against the back of his head. Finn kept his hands on the handles of the sled, refusing to let it go. A deep, gravelly male voice came from behind him, “You have five seconds to tell me what you are doing this ship,” the voice didn’t have to say it. Still, whoever it belonged to was willing to kill them if it wasn’t satisfied.

Finn let out a shaky breath as he explained his purpose, “Please, my friend needs help.” The blaster didn’t leave its spot, “Please,” Finn pleaded. There was a long pause from his captor as he breathed heavily in worry. When the barrel was removed, Finn let out the breath in relief. Finn gently places the sled down as he turned around slowly to not aggravate the guy. Finn was taken back at seeing his capture, “Woah,” the Shistavanen towered over him, its red eyes glaring at him.

Kas directed the newcomer where he could put his injured friend, “No one on this ship is a medic,” he told the kid.

“I can help him, I just needed him out of the elements,” Finn said. Finn pulled out a first aid kit, “Names Finn by the way,” Finn tried to break the ice between him and the Shistavanen.

“Don’t care,” was the reply he got back. As Finn moved the tarp away from the Poe, Kas was able to finally to see the injured person’s face. Immediately Kas recognized him, “You got to be kidding me!” he yelled. The situation the crew was in just got a lot worse.

The other three crew members were on their way back, with T-IK carrying the Hyperdrive core. Temza smiled with glee, and a had an extra pep in her step, “Did you see the sweat coming off that fat Crolute. That was the best,” she cheered.

Jaden laughed, “You are getting the hang of being a bounty hunter,” Jaden said to his fellow crew member.

 **“Why am I carrying this?”** T-IK called out from behind him, the duo. 

“You’re the strongest,” Jaden replied, and the received a dangerous stare from the droid. Jaden caught a glimpse of Rey sitting at a table doing the same thing she did the last time. She was at the table cleaning off parts, “I’ll catch up with you later,” she said as he patted Temza’s shoulder and jogged towards Rey’s table. If this was his last day on Jakku, he wanted to say goodbye. Rey was so engrossed with her work that she didn’t notice Jaden’s presence, “Hey.” The voice brought her out of her concentration.

Rey looked up and smiled at him, “Hey.” she replied with a strained smile.

Jaden smiled back just as strained, “What was all that last night?” it was a question that was burning in the back of Jaden’s mind.

Rey fidgeted in her seat as she felt uncomfortable with such a personal question. She bit her lip in anxiety as she finally answered, “I can’t leave this place. I am waiting for someone,”

Jaden raised an inquisitive eyebrow, “Waiting for who?”

Rey closed herself off, wanting to end the conversation, “Just drop it, Jaden,” she looked away from him as she was almost in tears.

Jaden felt sorry for bringing up old wounds to the young woman across from him. He needed a way to cheer her up and trust him again. Jaden leaned in with a smile, he had an idea he just hoped that Kas never got wind of what he did, “You said you wanted to know how I got that piece of salvage, right?” Rey nodded hesitantly as Jaden grew a mischievous smile.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. His breath became steady as he exhaled a deep breath from his nose. Rey had a confused look on her face. She wondered what was going on. She opened her mouth the ask what he was doing when one of the pieces of scrap began to float. Then more followed until there was nothing on the table. Jaden opened his eyes, smirking as he had all the scrap float. His smile deepened as Rey’s eyes filled with wonder. Jaden felt eyes on him as he whipped his head around, seeing the Crolute eyeing him.

The object floated lightly to the table much to Rey’s enjoyment, “That was incredible. How can you do that?” she asked in wonder.

Jaden smiled at Rey’s complement, “I could do stuff like this for as long as I can remember,” he reminisced. Rey could feel the nostalgia that came from him. There was a story that she wanted to know.

Rey’s smile broadened, “You can tell me more about when we go out to scavenge later,” the excitement in her voice was something she couldn’t contain.

Jaden frowned this was going to be the hard part of the conversation, it was time for him to break the news to his new friend, “That’s why I wanted to came to talk to you,” his voice was low and solemn. Rey’s expression changed to match Jaden’s as she heard him speak, “We got the Hyperdrive core. It won’t be long till I leave this planet. I came to say good-bye,” he told her calmly.

Rey became visibly hurt by the news; she swallowed a lump in her throat as she registered his words. Of course, this wasn’t going to last forever, he would leave, and she would stay on Jakku waiting as always. Rey clenched her hands into fists as she wanted to curl in on herself to make the loss of her new friend lessen. She looked at him with eyes that were close to spilling tears, “I understand,” Rey got up, taking her parts with her. Jaden reached out with a comforting hand, but she retracted herself away. It was too much for her.

Jaden let retracted his hand, he gave a sigh before getting up and making his way to the Vigil. Jaden made it back to the ship in no time. He opened the door to the cargo bay and went in. Inside he saw Kas pinning a newcomer to the ground by his foot on his chest along with the barrel aimed at the new guy’s face. Temza stood off to the side, unsure of what to do, and T-IK looked ready to join the Shistavanen. He was growling as he yelled at the downed individual, “You are one of them, aren’t you? You came to kills us!” Kas yelled, interrogating the younger human his finger easing on the trigger.

“Stop! Please! I left the First Order, I’m not one of them,” Finn begged to try to get the Shistavanen to let him go and hear his side of the story. Kas didn’t care.

Jaden could see where this was going to go, so he yelled to get Kas’ attention, “Kas stop!”

“Kid! This piece of garbage is a First Order Stormtrooper. Why should I let him live,” Kas began to tighten his finger around his blaster’s trigger.

“Kas! Don’t!” Jaden cried as he reacted by throwing his hand.


End file.
